This is a record of my journey as a Muslim. I used to be Catholic and belonged to a missionary organisation. After my conversion, I sat on the board of a Muslim converts' organisation and specialised in da'wah programmes, convert management, interfaith issues and apostasy cases. I am an initiate of a Sufi order. As such, the articles and writings tend to cover these areas.
All the Arabic and graphics could not have been done without the help of my wife, Zafirah.

Monday, 13 February 2017

Tabarruk through the Hair of the Prophet (s.a.w.)

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

The following are some narrations on blessing through hair
of the Prophet (s.a.w.).

It was recorded, in Swahih
al-Bukhari, that Imam ibn Sirin (q.s.)
narrated, “I said to ‘Abidah, ‘I have some of the hair of the Prophet, which I
got from Anas or from his family.’

‘Abidah replied, ‘No doubt if I had a single hair of that,
it would have been dearer to me than the whole world and whatever is in it.’”

It was recorded, in Swahih
Muslim., that Anas (r.a.)
reported, “I saw when the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.) got his hair cut by the barber, his companions came around
him and they eagerly wanted that no hair should fall but in the hand of a
person.”

In another tradition attributed to Anas (r.a.), he said, “I saw that a barber was
shaving the Prophet’s (s.a.w.) head,
and the companions stood around him in the shape of a circle. They wished that each strand of hair falling
off the Prophet’s (s.a.w.) head
should fall into the hand of one of them,” meaning, they did not wish it to
fall on the ground. This was recorded by
Imam Muslim (r.a.), in his Swahih, in the section on fadha’il. Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal (r.a.) recorded it in his Musnad,
Imam ibn Sa’d (r.a.) in his ath-Thabaqat al-Kubra’, Imam al-Bayhaqi
(r.a.) in his Sunan al-Kubra’, and Hafizh ibn Katsir (r.a.) in his al-Bidayah wa an-Nihayah.

It was recorded, in Swahih
al-Bukhari, that Shaykh ‘Utsman ibn ‘Abdullah ibn Mawhab (r.a.) said, “My people sent me with a
bowl of water to Umm Salamah. If any
person suffered from evil eye or some other disease, he would send a vessel to
Umm Salamah. I looked into the container
and saw a few red hairs in it.” The
people sent small vessels of water and the hair of the Prophet (s.a.w.) would be dipped in it.

Imam ibn Hajr al-‘Asqalani (r.a.) wrote, in his Fath
al-Bari, “This tradition furnishes the proof that it is valid to draw Divine
Blessings from the Prophet’s (s.a.w.) hair and confirms the
permissibility of its acquisition.”

Qadhi ‘Iyadh (r.a.)
wrote, in his ash-Shifa’, that Swafiyyah
(r.a.) narrated that the cap of
Khalid ibn al-Walid (r.a.) contained
some strands of the Prophet’s (s.a.w.)
hair. When that cap was knocked off in a
battlefield, he started to search for it. When many swahabah
were martyred in that battle, people strongly condemned his actions. He replied,
“I did not try so to find just the cap. It
contained the hair of Prophet (s.a.w.),
and I feared it might get into the hands of polytheists and we might lose the barakah of it.”

Shaykh ‘Abd ar-Rahman bin Abu ‘Amrah (r.a.) attributed this narration to his grandmother, who heard it
from Kabshah al-Answariyyah (r.a.). It is said that the Prophet (s.a.w.) the went over to see her and
there was a small, leather. water bag hanging there. He drank water from it while standing. Then, she cut off the mouth of water bag on
account of its blessing because the Prophet’s (s.a.w.) mouth had touched it.
Imam ibn Majah (r.a.) narrated
it with a sound chain of transmission, in his Sunan. Imam at-Tirmidzi (r.a.) graded it hasan swahih gharib, in his al-Jami’
asw-Swahih, and ash-Shama’il al-Muhammadiyyah. Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal (r.a.) recorded it in his Musnad,
Imam ath-Thabarani (r.a.) recorded it
in his al-Mu’jam al-Kabir, and Imam
al-Baghawi (r.a.) in his Sharh as-Sunnah.

In another version, Anas (r.a.) narrated that the Prophet (s.a.w.) came over to see Umm Sulaym (r.a.) and there was a small leather bag of water hanging in the
house. He drank from this leather bag
while standing. Anas (r.a.) said that Umm Sulaym (r.a.) “cut off the mouth of the leather
bag so it is with us.” Imam at-Tirmidzi
(r.a.) recorded this in his ash-Shama’il al-Muhammadiyyah, Imam
Ahmad ibn Hanbal (r.a.) in his Musnad, Imam Abu Dawud ath-Thayalisi (r.a.) in his Musnad, and Imam ath-Thabarani (r.a.)
in his al-Mu’jam al-Kabir and al-Mu’jam al-Awsath.

There is a long hadits,
from Swahih Muslim, as narrated by
‘Abdullah mawla Asma’ (r.a.), where
in the latter part, it is recorded, that ‘Abdullah (r.a.) said, “I went back to Asma’ and informed her. Whereupon, she said, ‘Here is the cloak of
Allah’s Messenger (s.a.w.)’, and she
brought out to me that cloak made of Persian cloth with a hem of brocade, and
its sleeves bordered with brocade. She
said, ‘This was Allah’s Messenger’s (s.a.w.)
cloak with ‘Aishah until she died, and when she died, I got possession of it. The Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.) used to wear it, and we washed it for the sick, and sought
a cur whereby,’”

It is recorded in Swahih
Muslim that Anas ibn Malik (r.a.)
reported that the Prophet (s.a.w.)
came to the house of Umm Sulaym (r.a.)
and slept in her bed while she was away from her house. On another day as well, he slept in her bed. She came, and it was said to her, “It is Allah’s
Messenger (s.a.w.) who is having
siesta in your house, lying in your bed.”

She came and found him sweating and his sweat falling on
the leather cloth spread on her bed. She
opened her scent-bag and began to fill the bottles with it. The Prophet (s.a.w.) was startled awake and asked, “Umm Sulaym, what are you
doing?”

She replied, “Allah’s Messenger, we seek blessings for our
children through it.”

Thereupon, he said, “You have done something right.”

In another version, also from Swahih Muslim, Umm Sulaym (r.a.)
reported that the Prophet (s.a.w.)
visited her house and rested. She spread
a piece of cloth for him and he had a siesta on it. He perspired profusely and she collected his
sweat and put it in a perfume and in bottles. The Prophet (s.a.w.) asked, “Umm Sulaym, what is this?”

She replied, “It is your sweat, which I put in my perfume.”

The Prophet (s.a.w.)
perspired in cold weather when Revelation Descended upon him.

In another similar hadits,
this time from Swahih al-Bukhari, it
is narrated by Tsumamah (r.a.),
through Anas (r.a.), that Umm Sulaym
(r.a.) used to spread a leather
mattress for the Prophet (s.a.w.)
where he enjoyed his midday nap. Anas (r.a.) related that when the Prophet (s.a.w.) woke up, he collected his
perspiration and his hair, put these into a bottle and blended them with
perfume. Tsumamah (s.a.w.) related that when Anas (s.a.w.)
was on the brink of death, he willed that the scent be applied to his coffin,
which it was.